Tag Archives: workout

Example of the bench dips I do. The outfit, I do not do, although those are some rad ass socks. 🙂

I am so proud of myself for increasing some of my weights last night. For barbell curls I went up to 40 lbs. (my usual is 30 lbs.), but I could only do 5 in a row so I dropped to 30 and finished my sets. I’m just happy I did five! Seated tricep press went up to 30 lbs. instead of 27.5 lbs. Tricep push down with rope went to 70 lbs. instead of 60 lbs. Now I need to see if I can do a 20 lb. hammer curl instead of 17.5 lbs. I thought I went up from 15 lbs., but I have been doing 17.5 all along, rats! I also need to try a 40 lb. skull crusher since I have been doing 30 lbs. for a while now.

It’s taken me three days to sit here and write this entry. It’s the holidays and to be perfectly honest, I haven’t made the gym a priority this week. I’ve been spending most of my holiday time off being domesticated and spending time with my kiddos, but tomorrow it’s game on and I am ready! I will be doing arms/abs/cardio.

After the below leg workout, I was sore for two days. hah You’d think with the amount of leg work I do, I wouldn’t get sore anymore. I guess increasing some of the weight and throwing in the extra credit does the trick.

I decided that I wanted to run through phase 2 again since I liked the plan so much. This is day 58 for me, but I’m going to just date it as day 30 because that is the actual day in the program. I killed my abs last night and wow, I am tender from mid rib to below my navel. Sweet! I love feeling sore after a good workout. It’s actually pretty rewarding as weird as that may sound. Here’s what I did.

Short entry this morning. I did cardio both days this weekend. I am at the end of phase 2 in this program and I am thinking I would like to go through it one more time before stepping into Phase 3. I may even do it twice and then kick it up a notch right before summer by going into phase 3. We’ll see…

Let’s talk about one of the top ten exercises you’re not doing, the T Bar row. It’s not often an exercise edges out the bent-over row, but in this case, the bent-over row comes in second. Because we’re focusing on the lower lats, it all comes down to your elbow position relative to your body. Notice in the T-bar row (in video posted below) how your elbows are close to your sides in the top position, whereas your elbows are away from the body in the barbell row? That’s your determining factor. Whenever you row with your elbows in tight to the body, you automatically zero in on the lower lats. Many people see the T-bar row as a middle-back exercise because the hands are close together, but that only magnifies the lower lat recruitment pattern. During the bent-over row, your hands and elbows are wide, and if you were to draw a line from elbow to elbow during the peak contraction, you’ll have shaded the muscles it’s actually hitting; the upper lats, rhomboids and middle traps.

My glutes are already sore from last nights workout. I made sure to squeeze my glutes HARD during the barbell glute bridges (pic of exercise above). I used a fixed barbell (don’t do that- haha), but next time I need to use an Olympic bar so I can get under it, instead of lifting it and placing it on my hips. I’ll be able to lift more weight and be a little more comfortable that way.

50 lbs. wasn’t enough to make me feel challenged at rep 8. I could have done 50 reps with 50 lbs. A major drawback to this exercise is that it’s almost bordering on gym porn, but don’t let that put you off too much because the benefits outweigh the negatives. I still believe squats and deadlifts are the best mass builders, but you can activate the glutes and squeeze hard doing the Barbell Glute Bridge, so here is how to do it.

Sit on the ground with a loaded barbell over your legs (don’t go too heavy to start). You may want to add a pad to the bar as it can become quite uncomfortable. Roll the bar so it is directly above the hips then lie flat on the floor.

Now start by driving through the heels, extending your hips vertically through the bar. Your weight should be supported by your upper back rear delts and the heels of your feet.

SLOWLY extend as far as possible and squeeze that contraction hard at the top, then reverse the motion to return to the starting position.

Remember you will activate more of the glutes at the top of the movement so no point going too heavy and just doing half reps! Pay close attention to form and the mind muscle connection on this exercise, your butt should be burning (like how your calves burn after a high volume workout).

Wow. Jaime Eason has a beautiful pair of arms. There is nothing “manly” about those. I don’t think I want to go quite that big, but I love the definition and curves. Totally sexy, totally feminine and beautifully proportioned. It still amazes me that you can build or reduce muscles any where on your body and shape it like a piece of clay. It’s not easy, but it’s within your reach. It’s not something you can buy, it’s not something that can be given to you, it’s something you have to work for. Lift heavy for best results, but don’t over do it and injure yourself. Don’t follow the weight I have listed in my routine. You should be figuring out your own personal challenges and logging your own weight.

How do you figure out how much to lift? Typically, if you lift 60%-80% of max, you could do anywhere from 10-20 reps. Lifting at 80% and above takes you down to the lower rep range, which is where you’ll be if you’re trying to gain size. That means keeping your reps somewhere between 8-16, if you’re lifting for weight loss and fitness. Your weights are determined by the number of reps you’re doing.

For Beginners:

Choose a weight you can only lift 16 times. You don’t need to go to complete failure, but make sure you’re challenging your body.

Begin with 1 set of each exercise, slowly working your way up to 2-3 sets (i.e., adding a set each week)

When you’ve added sets and have a solid foundation (after 6-8 weeks), add more weight so that you can ONLY do 8-12 reps.

Continue to progress by adding a rep each week until you reach the max reps (no more than 16), increase your weight and drop your reps back down to 8-12.

Before you train your shoulders, it’s important to understand the muscles you’re targeting. Your shoulders are composed of the larger deltoid muscles—anterior, medial, posterior—and smaller rotator cuff muscles that support the ball and socket joint. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles—the teres minor, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, and subscapularis—which help in all overhead and rotational movements at the shoulder.

The deltoid muscles are the prime mover of arm abduction—moving the arm away from the body.. The front (anterior) muscles are involved in shoulder abduction when the shoulder is externally rotated—think lateral raises with your thumbs turned up. The anterior deltoid also works with the subscapularis, pectorals, and lats to internally rotate the humerus bone, effectively turning your thumbs in and towards the center of the body so your palms face back.

The rear (posterior) fibers are strongly involved in transverse extension, as in cable back rows. The lateral fibers perform basic shoulder abduction when the shoulder is internally rotated, like in lateral raises. They also perform shoulder transverse abduction, as in a reverse fly, when the shoulder is externally rotated. An important function of the deltoid muscles is also to support the humeral head to prevent dislocation when carrying very heavy loads.

Side lateral raises: 12.5 lbs. – 4 sets of 8 reps, last set is a drop-set

Reverse flyes: 4 sets of 8 reps – Still can’t do these without my rotator giving me hell. I did one rep with 10 lbs., disappointed. Maybe I should drop to 7.5 lbs. and try that next time instead of not doing them at all.